Strawberry and the Bee
by Leon Tasume
Summary: After the winter war Ichigo moves to Sereitei, and is assigned to the second squad. Sui Feng is not happy about this, yet her emotions say something different. Can they overcome their differences and become something more? Only time will tell.
1. Leaving Karakura Town!

Title: Strawberry and the Bee: Living in Sereitei

Pairing: Ichigo Kurosaki X Sui Feng

Concept: Ichigo, after deciding to live in Sereitei joins the ranks of the Second Squad at the position of lieutenant by popular vote and by battle with Marechiyo Ōmaeda

Timeframe: 5 months After the Winter War

Universe: Alternate

'Thinking'

"Talking"

"**_Hollow_**"

"**Bankai/Shikai**"

"_Hadou #33 Sokatsui!_"

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Story concept is mine, but Tite Kubo owns all the Regular Bleach characters- save for the original ones that spawn and bounce around in my head.

Note: There is another story that has a similar concept as mine done by the author belfan, he/she posted theirs first, and I came up with my idea for Sui Feng and Ichigo before I read his/her story, so I apologize in advance to belfan, but I am sticking with this idea until I run it into the ground, so to speak.

Whoo! My first story! It came to me when I was at an acting event in the cold weather. Hope you all enjoy it! *ducks rotten tomatoes and other thrown objects*

He hears it every time before it hits him, and every time, it sends shivers up his spine and frustration through his 17 year old orange haired head. "ICHIIIGOOOO!" His father Isshin attempts to make his usual morning attack on his son, this time, by dropkicking him in the back of the head.

"Gah! You moron! What kind of father tries to kick his own son in the back of the head?" Ichigo retaliates by shifting himself to the right and elbowing his father to the ground.

"One who wants his son to grow up big and strong!" Isshin says this while on the ground with a big grin on his face, acting like the goof that he usually is.

"There are ways aside from trying to beat the crap out of me! Besides, you know I'm strong enough to beat anything that comes my way!" He practically growls the last part.

After getting up and brushing himself off, Isshin gets a solemn look after Ichigo says this "Ichigo, you can't always assume you can beat everything down, there is more to fighting than sheer strength, going against Aizen should have taught you this." He then looks at his orange haired son with a soft smile "Are you sure you want to leave here and live in Sereitei? You know how Yama-jii gets."

Ichigo smiles slightly at his father and ignores the first statement "Yeah, I figure if I stay in Karakura Town, more hollows will come. I know with the hogyoku being kept hidden in Sereitei, more Espadas can't be made, But I don't want to risk anyone getting hurt here on the off chance of something that is strong coming here and hurting everyone in its path just to get to me." As he talks to his father, he gathers up most of his clothes in a duffel bag. Before closing it he stuffs his Substitute Shinigami Badge into the bag, he would need to return it to Ukitake when he goes to Sereitei. "Besides, other soul reapers keep an eye on this place, if anything too strong for them gets here, I can come back in no time." He looks outside of his window for a moment. "Besides, you're here. You can protect Yuzu and Karin better than I can."

As Ichigo mentions his sisters, they walk into his room; Karin is the first to speak up. "So, leaving us already? Thought you would have waited until you died to go there." Yuzu and Karin had been filled in on Sereitei and Shinigami by Kisuke Urahara, or Hat-n-clogs as Ichigo and Karin like to call him.

Ichigo glares lightly at his brunette sister "Hey! It's not as if I'm leaving for good. I'll come back when I get free time, gotta make sure dad doesn't go completely soft in the head."

"Hey!" Isshin attempts to grapple Ichigo for this remark but gets stopped by Karin's and Ichigo's feet. "Masaki! Ichigo and Karin are being mean to me!" Both Ichigo and Karin look at their father and sigh.

Yuzu, the lighter haired sister, on the other hand, looks like she is about to about to cry, "Ichi-nii, do you really have to go?" Ichigo looks at his youngest sister and pats her on the head.

"It's not like I am going away forever Yuzu, besides, If I don't go, Gramps will throw a fit for me saying one thing and doing another." He notes a small lion shaped doll in her hand.

"Well, since you're going to live there, I'm giving you Bostov, that way a little piece of home is with you there." She walks over to his duffel bag and stuffs 'Bostov' into it. Slightly embarrassed by this Ichigo attempts to stop her but is stopped by Karin who is presently giving him the evil eye. He sighs and lets Yuzu do as she pleases. Kon had received a gigai from Kisuke a while back, so the doll was just that.

Ichigo looks at his father then to his sisters "As much as I hate to say it, I gotta get going. Hat-n-Clogs should have the Senkai Gate ready by now. "He hefts the duffel bag onto his shoulder and heads for the front door "I'll have Jinta run by and let everyone know when I am on the other side."

Yuzu, once again on the verge of tears "We'll miss you Ichigo!" He smiles and nods to his family

"Yea, see you later!" He turns and begins running to the Urahara shop, not wanting to keep anyone waiting, as well as not wanting to see his sister cry because of his leaving.

After roughly fifteen minutes, Ichigo stands in front of the infamous Urahara Shop. "Better get this over with…Oi! Hat-n-Clogs, is the gate ready?" He searches around the upper level of the Shop before heading down to the vast training area. "Never get used to this place…" The so called training area looked like it was an open dry field, littered with big rocks, a few gorges made by Kisuke and Ichigo during their training sessions, and the walls looked like they were nonexistent, giving the already big room a feeling of being in a real open field.

"Aah! Ichigo, glad you could make it. Preparations for the gate are complete." Kisuke opens his fan with the flick of his wrist and hides the lower half of his face behind it. "You're really going through with this huh? You know how Sereitei can get."

"You know my reasons better than my old man does." Ichigo locks his eyes on the gate that he is soon to go though. It appears to be like the last one, a lot of talismans wrapped around all four borders, and swirling energies inside the open part of the gate "Karakura Town is better off this way."

"It's your decision Kurosaki; we will be here if you need anything. Don't forget to drop by now and again; I still owe you a lot from the Winter War."

"Yeah, yeah. See ya around." With one final look back, Ichigo jumps into the Senkai Gate and heads towards Sereitei.


	2. Central 46 and Ichigo's Arrival!

Wow! A big thank you to everyone who reviewed my first chapter! I didn't think it would have been as good as everyone says it is, that's a big boost of confidence to a beginning writer like me. Big thanks to Blackout2010 for assisting me! Anywho! I hope everyone enjoys Chapter Two of Strawberry and the Bee: Central 46's decision and Ichigo's arrival!

On the other side of the Senkai Gate, a petite woman was waiting for a certain substitute Shinigami to arrive. This young looking woman stands at roughly 150cm in height. Her silken raven hair was kept semi-short save for two white braids that ended in small gold rings near her hips. Her midnight blue eyes were set upon the Gate waiting for the newest member of the Gotei 13. Her face had a noble look about it, angles that while not soft, weren't hard enough to mar her natural beauty, She looked as if she was scowling, or at the very least, thinking hard about some odd subject relating to her and her duties. She wore clothing that resembled something an unarmored samurai would wear in the warring states era. From the ground up she appeared to be wearing a pair of Black tai-chi slippers, white stockings, black hamaka, a yellow kimono belt with a zanpaktou, slightly longer than a wakazashi resting in it at the small of her back, an outer black kimono overlaying a white inner kimono, Arm socks that went up to the top of both of her toned arms, and finally, upon her shoulders rested a sleeveless cloak that could only belong to a Captain of the Gotei 13, with the katakana symbol for the number two emblazoned within a diamond shape onto the back of the cloak. She is none other than Sui Feng, Captain of the second squad and Commander of Sereitei's Onmitsukido (Stealth forces) unit.

Now, under normal circumstances, Sui Feng obeys orders and executes them without question. Today however, her mind was trying to wrap around the idea of why the Sotaicho of all 13 squads, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, ordered her of all people to escort a ryoka to the Captains' meeting room. Granted, she would never voice such a thought, but orders are orders. 'I understand that Kurosaki helped out Sereitei when we went to war with Aizen, but Central 46 deciding to give him permission to live in here, and even join the Gotei 13 ranks? And of all people, why send me? Surely he would be better welcomed by Abari-dono or Kuchiki-dono…' Sui Feng lightly chewed her lower lip, deep in thought, but not enough to distract her from her mission. 'Maybe some light will be shed on the subject when Yamamoto-Sotaicho speaks to Kurosaki….' She ponders upon this for a while longer before shaking away such thoughts and focuses on waiting for the 'hero' of the Winter War.

_**Flashback to a Central 46 meeting that took place 10 days ago; Concerning Ichigo Kurosaki's relationship with Sereitei and the Gotei 13**_

An elderly noble with a balding head of silver hair and a very bushy mustache speaks among his fellow noblemen with an air of regality. "Now that the new members of Central 46 have gathered, the meeting has now come to order. Our main concern and discussion today, is on the subject of the substitute Shinigami; Ichigo Kurosaki. The floor is now open to anyone who wishes to speak either on his behalf to join the Gotei 13, or to restrict him from said joining."

The first to stand and speak is another elderly noble, this one with a short cut beard and swept back silver and black hair. "As much as we are indebted to Kurosaki for helping us in the Winter War, he has displayed powers that can only be classified as those of a hollow." Murmurs spread across the room, but this man continues to speak through them. "The last time Central 46 encountered beings with similar powers to Kurosaki's; they were sentenced to death, but escaped before the sentence could be carried out. The last thing Sereitei needs, is a hollow hybrid running amuck within the Gotei 13's walls, especially one as powerful as Kurosaki. We do not know if the hollow within him will ever escape, and we do not want to take that chance." With his opinion stated, he returns to his seated position.

A younger man, with sandy blond hair tied back in a neat ponytail and a slightly scruffy beard stood up next. "I understand that the last central 46 did order people with a similar condition to Kurosaki's to death, but one also had to remember; during that time, Aizen was a lieutenant, in order to become at least a lieutenant in the Gotei 13, he had to display his zanpaktou's Shikai, which as everyone now knows, was able to bend things to Aizen's will. The majority, if not all of the decisions made by the old Central 46, while meaning no disrespect to them, were most likely influenced by Aizen. Kurosaki has proven himself time and time again that he means no harm to the Sereitei or to its people."

The young man takes a breath and looks to his fellow council members, who have been paying attention to him the whole time. "He has done nothing to protect us in our times of need, from the very first moment he stepped foot into Sereitei, despite the odds being stacked against him, and unjust laws being enforced, He upheld what shinigami should stand for: Protecting innocent souls, no matter the cost. Yes he originally obtained his powers illegally through Kuchiki Rukia-dono, but it was in order to stop a hollow from becoming more powerful and harming more innocent people. When Aizen revealed his plan, despite being in a weakened state, Kurosaki fought alongside the Gotei 13 against Aizen. Kurosaki, while appearing to be in the wrong about a lot of things, always ended up proving himself to be on the right path. I believe that is more than enough to prove he is worthy of joining the ranks of those that protect us." With this, he sits down and stares into empty space 'I did what I could for you Ichigo; the rest is up to the other councilors.'

Another older noble with thinning short brown hair and a goatee stands next. "There are parts from both arguments so far that I agree with. I agree that Kurosaki is a dangerous individual, but I also believe such danger can be harnessed into power for the Gotei 13 to use within its ranks. We have heard of what his bankai does and looks like. I suggest, put him under the Gotei 13's second squad. There his skills can be better honed, and constant surveillance can be kept upon him at all times. No offense to Omaeda-san, but I believe with how much power Kurosaki has, he is at least lieutenant level and should be placed as such within its ranks. His monstrous strength can be used as a decoy for the real Onmitsukido members to do their work. No doubt, with enough training, his skills will be on par with any other shinigami of his caliber. I say, let the boy join us, but keep a leash on him." He then sat down and an uncomfortable 5 minutes passed before anyone spoke above a whisper

The first elderly man who spoke stood up, "After hearing the arguments, the elder council has made its decision: Kurosaki will be allowed to Join the Gotei 13, but only if he is voted in by the majority of the squad captains. If he makes it in, he will then be put to the test against Lieutenant Omaeda for the second seat position within the Second Squad. If he fails, he will be placed at the bottom of the food chain and work his way up like everyone before him did. Yamamoto-san! His hollow powers are to be restricted to being used only in a dire moment, any other time will be inexcusable and he will be punished for it. Understood?" He turns to look at the strongest and oldest shinigami to date.

"It is as you order; Kurosaki Ichigo will be put to the test." Yamamoto nods his scarred head and excuses himself from the meeting room without opening his wrinkled eyes. "Sui Feng!" She appears within moments of being called.

"Hai! Yamamoto-Sotaicho!" Sui Feng kneels before the Captain-Commander and patiently waits for her orders.

"When Kurosaki is due to arrive in Sereitei, I want you to escort him to the Captain's meeting room. He has much to discuss with the Gotei 13. You will receive further orders once the meeting is adjourned."

With no hesitation, Sui Feng nods her head in affirmation "Hai Sotaicho, it will be done." Her thought process however, was kicking into overdrive.

_**End Flashback**_

'Damn that Kurosaki, when is he going to get here?" after more than fifteen minutes of waiting, Sui Feng was starting to get agitated. One, because it was taking away from her time to train her squad, and two, she was sure Omaeda was goofing off and stuffing his face instead of doing his paperwork.

At that moment, her thin wearing patience paid off. Ichigo stepped through the gate in full shinigami garb, with Zangetsu resting on his back and his duffel bag in his hand.

"You're late Kurosaki!" Just because Yamamoto-Sotaicho told her to escort Kurosaki, it doesn't mean she had to be nice to him. She rarely did nice unless Yoruichi-Sama was involved.

"Sui Feng? What are you doing here? I thought Renji or Rukia would have been here to greet me." Ichigo says this as he looks around for the tall redhead and the other short shinigami, completely ignoring her 'late' comment.

Not letting her emotions or thoughts rise to the surface, Sui Feng hardens her gaze towards Ichigo. "Yamamoto-Sotaicho ordered me to escort you to the Captains meeting room, anyone else is unnecessary. Follow me." Without another word, not giving Ichigo a chance to respond, Sui Feng turned on her heel and used shunpo to make the escort as quick as possible. Ichigo, albeit a bit surprised by her sudden departure and perturbed by her brash attitude, soon followed suit and followed her to the inner court of the Gotei 13.

Not a word passed between the two shinigami as they traveled faster than the eye could see. Sui Feng was focused on getting Ichigo out of her hair as soon as possible, and Ichigo was wondering what the old Sotaicho wanted with him so soon. He was also wondering why Sui Feng acted so cold towards him. Sure, they crossed swords on more than one occasion, but to Ichigo, it was in the past and they should at least try to be friendly with one another. To top it off, Ichigo wasn't a total brick when it came to women, He knew a beauty when he saw one, and much to his chagrin, his inner hollow Hichigo liked to point out such things.

"_**Hahaha! Check out the body on her! King, you'd love to see more of her skin wouldn't ya!"**_ Hichigo loved to mess with his shinigami half; he was after all, Ichigo's darker side and always knew what Ichigo liked, and proudly voiced it, no matter how much it pissed Ichigo off. _**"This one would be a challenge to tame in the sack!"**_ He started cackling and rambling off ideas of what he would like to do with and to the petite Captain.

'Shut up! No one wants to hear that kind of stuff!' Despite yelling at his hollow, Ichigo knew that it had a point. Sui Feng is, with no doubt attractive, but the way he saw it at the moment, was that he just saw her as an attractive woman and a strong fighter, no romantic feelings or anything similar to that. He started to blush slightly while following the subject that his hollow decided to talk about. Reasons for this, his hollow, while ignoring Ichigo's order to shut up, was VERY descriptive in what he wanted to do with said captain, and with him following right behind her, it was hard not to notice her lithe form. Needless to say, Ichigo's hollow was attempting to embarrass him and was thoroughly succeeding.

"_**Say whatever you want king, it totally explains why you're staring at her ass!" **_Hichigo was having trouble containing his mirth at how flustered Ichigo was getting.

Ichigo visibly flinched at this and chose then to ignore his now cackling hollow while vowing to someday get even with him, and shifted his eyes from Sui Feng's rear, and instead focused on their destination.

During Ichigo's inner battle, Sui Feng was having one of her own. Her mind however, was wondering if she could kill the young man behind her and get away with it. 'How dare he stare at me like that! What the hell is he thinking?' Yes, she had noticed the movement of Ichigo's eyes, which roaming up and down her body, being the leader of the Onmitsukido unit had those kinds of advantages. She chose however not to voice this. 'If he tries anything, the only thing that he will be touching of mine is Suzumebachi.'

At this, Suzumebachi decided to toss her two cents into the mental battle that her master was having with herself. 'You know, having a guy looking at you isn't so bad. It is better than having Omaeda staring at you like he usually does.'

Sui Feng suppressed a very big shudder at this statement 'What's your point Suzumebachi? Omaeda or not, I shouldn't be stared at like I'm a piece of meat.'

Suzumebachi giggled lightly 'My points are, at least this Kurosaki guy is better looking than Omaeda, so you really shouldn't mind him looking at you, and at least he's trying to be a gentleman, I know you also noticed him flinching and blushing. It's adorable how he's arguing with himself over just looking at you.'

'I can NOT believe I am having this conversation with you.' Sui Feng furrowed her brow slightly and picked up her pace, forcing Ichigo to as well.

'It's better than arguing with your-self and thinking about killing the poor boy.' Suzumebachi had a point there, though Sui Feng chose not to admit it.

Within moments of ending their mental bouts, they arrived at the main doors of the Captain's meeting room. "Kurosaki, I suggest if you value your life, that you hold your tongue unless you are asked to speak in here." Sui Feng glanced back at Ichigo and saw him nod in acknowledgement. "Good, let us get in there before we are later than we already are." She then opened one of the doors and they both stepped inside.

All the other Captains were in their usual spots, Renji was standing in the spot for squad 5 wearing the Captain's Cloak for that squad. While squad 3 and 9 had no captains to fill, so the spots were left empty for the time being. Sui Feng glided to where she usually stood and waited for Yamamoto-Sotaicho to begin the meeting.


	3. Captains Vote and Ichigo's Test

Just as Renji was about to greet Ichigo, Yamamoto-Sotaicho appeared in the room, as if he was there to begin with. He was not one to delay the inevitable, and he wanted to see what his Subordinates thought of Ichigo becoming a full time member of the Gotei 13. "According to Central 46, we are to discuss what to do with Kurosaki. Central has decided that we vote on if he should join us in one of the squads, or if he should be sent back to Karakura Town." Several of the captains noticeably stiffened.

Kenpachi Zaraki bristled with excitement, "Finally taking the plunge into the Gotei 13, eh Ichigo! Yama-jii, who's squad will he be joining?" Despite his disrespect for speaking out of turn, He had a valid question that was on everyone's mind, especially Mayuri's, who wanted to start several experiments, each of which involved Ichigo in some degree or another.

Yamamoto ignored Kenpachi's ignorance and partially answered his question, feeling that it was in fact on everyone's mind. "His squad will be revealed after the voting. I want no biased votes based off of where he will be placed." It appeared to disappoint Kenpachi, but only very slightly, while everyone else simply waited for Yamamoto to continue. "We will make this quick and simple, those who wish for Kurosaki to join the Gotei 13, step forward and state your reason for it. The same will go with those who wish to vote against him. We will start from myself, and work our way down the line according to your squad number. My vote…is against Kurosaki joining us. I do not trust him or his powers. While Central 46 has approved of Kurosaki joining us, the final decision is in our hands, and I do not see sufficient reason for him to be part of something that has rarely accepted someone who was not taught by the Shino Academy." Yamamoto opened one of his eyes and looked at Ichigo while releasing a small amount of reiatsu in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo, while not saying anything, looked slightly tense; his hands were balled into fists, and he was sweating slightly under the strain of reiatsu that was aimed at him. Ichigo knew that if he raised his reiatsu against Yamamoto, it would most likely screw his chances of joining the Gotei 13.

Sui Feng stepped forward and announced her vote. Aside from condemning him for his roaming eyes earlier, she never saw him use a kido spell, and she never saw him enter bankai or use any of his abilities, even when he battled with her. "I also vote against Kurosaki joining us. Every time he shows up in Sereitei, he brings nothing but chaos with him. I would rather he stayed in the living world." She looked at him through narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow, her contempt for him was not on entirely on purpose. Ever since Yoruichi left, she has always treated others coldly, save for a select few people. She saw Ichigo visibly flinch at her words, and though she didn't place much thought into it, Suzumebachi decided then to tell her opinion of why he flinched. "You know…I think this Kurosaki guy wanted to be friends with you. Yamamoto-Sotaicho's vote didn't faze him nearly as much as yours did." Sui Feng ignored her zanpaktou, and waited for the others to make their vote. Whatever Ichigo's reason for flinching was, it did not concern her.

The next captain to step up was Squad 4's Captain Unohana Retsu, The only other female captain within the entire Gotei 13. She had her long black hair parted and braided down her front, giving her a unique hairstyle and look. She also is one of the kindest Shinigami captains, as well as the chief medical officer for the Gotei 13. Her soft voice filled the room as she spoke. "I cast my vote in favor of Kurosaki-san to join us. He is a remarkable young man who has proven himself to be an ally of both the Gotei 13 and all of Sereitei. I believe he should be given the opportunity to live and fight alongside us." She smiles softly in Ichigo's direction. She is one of the few people to feel and see his power first-hand during the Winter War. She knew he had potential; he just needed a push in the right direction.

Abari Renji stepped forward from Squad 5's spot after Unohana went back to her spot. "I vote for Ichigo to join as well. He and I have fought side by side in Hueco Mundo, and I saw strength, determination, and courage that he has during the few times that we crossed swords before that. I feel if anyone should become a member of the Gotei 13, its Ichigo." He smirked and looked back at Ichigo, knowing he did all he could to help his friend/rival.

Next up was Captain Kuchiki Byakyua of squad 6, Rukia's older adoptive brother. He had all the looks of a Noble, Swept back hair that had some of it contained in a very odd hair ornament, to be specific a white headpiece called a kenseikan which symbolized his noble rank as the head of the Kuchiki family. Around his neck was a very expensive looking scarf made of silver-white windflower light silk, an expensive heirloom that has been passed down to the Kuchiki family head for generations. "I cast my vote in favor of Kurosaki-san. Despite his lack of care from the rules and blatant disregard for tradition, He has proven that while his ways are brash and uncouth, he does things for a just and honorable reason." After his vote, Byakyua simply turned and went back to his spot without saying another word or even looking in Ichigo's direction. Byakyua's decision, needless to say, shocked nearly everyone in the room, save for three of the Captains, Unohana, Kenpachi, and Yamamoto.

Next to vote is squad 7's captain Sajin Komamura. Komamura is a large anthropomorphic wolf, though he is often mistaken for a dog. His fur is light-brown in color, which the same color as his gloves. He also wears shoulder pads over his haori and large, plated boots instead of sandals. He stands at 288 cm, easily the tallest person in the room. As he steps forward, one of his ears twitch slightly. "…I do not want to disrespect you Yamamoto-Sotaicho, but I believe Ichigo is in a similar position to what I was in a long time ago, being someone who is unaccepted for what he is. Yamamoto-Sotaicho, you bent the rules for me to become a shinigami without going to the academy, I believe the same can be done for him. In the power that Central 46 gave us for this vote, I use that vote to bend the normally iron-clad rules that we protect daily to give Kurosaki a chance." Komamura looked to Yamamoto, hoping for his approval, and saw the old shinigami nod slightly. That was more than enough for Komamura. He did not know Kurosaki very well, but Komamura at least knew what it was like to be an outsider. He then stepped back into position with the rest of the captains.

Kyōraku Shunsui, Captain of the 8th squad stepped forward next. Shunsui's a laid-back and flamboyant man, evident in his style of dress: he wears a straw Sugegasa hat and a pink flowered haori over his captain's uniform. "I vote for Ichigo-kun. No other reason than that he knows what to fight for, and I believe he knows about what he does, despite the circumstances that usually hound him." Shunsui liked Ichigo, since Ichigo reminded him a lot of Isshin, who was one of his many drinking partners back in the day. 'Hmmm, maybe after he gets accepted into the Gotei 13 I'll treat him to a round with Jushiro-kun and Renji-san.'

The shortest and youngest captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro of squad 10 was the next to speak. His turquoise eyes looked slightly sleepy; his lieutenant had left him to do most of her paperwork while she went out and drank with her friends the night before. "I vote for Kurosaki to stay. Not because I saw him fight or because of his capabilities or his actions. I vote for him because we need as many soul reapers as we can get our hands on. The war with Aizen left us shorthanded. We need him as much as he wants to join us." Toshiro yawned slightly as he stepped back into place, he wanted to get the meeting over with so he could try to get at least some shuteye.

With a gleam in his uncovered eye and a feral grin on his lips, the captain of squad 11, Zaraki Kenpachi stepped forward. "You know my vote Yama-jii. Let Ichigo join us already! I need to have a rematch against him anyway." Ichigo visibly started to sweat at this. He knew of all people, Kenpachi was the type of person who loved to fight, and he knew that sooner or later, Kenpachi would seek him out for his rematch. Needless to say, Kenpachi had nothing short of a bloodlust for battle, and in his demented mind, Ichigo beat him once before, and he needed to have that rematch.

With a sigh at Kenpachi's bloodlust induced antics, the demented scientist that is captain of squad 12, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, cast his vote. "I vote against him joining…not that it matters much at this point anyway... I would prefer him to be a guinea pig for me, so to speak. His powers and capabilities are something that absolutely needs to be tested, documented and if possible, duplicated during theoretical, virtual, and physical tests. As useful as he would be on the field, he would be at least ten times more valuable as one of my specimens." Ichigo had heard rumors from Ishida and Renji about how twisted Mayuri was, but Ichigo never expected to hear what was just said by Mayuri. It took all his willpower to not tell Mayuri off and shove Zangetsu through his chest, but he kept himself in check, but just barely. Mayuri noticed this and merely shrugged as he went back to his spot muttering something along the lines of, "Either way, I'm sure I'll find some way to make him an experiment."

Unfortunately, Jushiro Ukitake, the captain of squad 13, was not available to cast his vote. His tuberculosis had flared up and left him bedridden for the next several days. Seeing that the voting was now over, Yamamoto then spoke to Ichigo, "The voting has ended. Three of the captains are against you joining our ranks, while seven of them have seen that you are fit to be their ally. You are lucky Kurosaki. Not many have the honor of becoming a full time shinigami without going through the academy first." Kenpachi was getting irritated and asked his question again.

"Yama-jii! We voted, and Ichigo is one of us now. Are you gonna tell us who's squad he is in or just leave us in the dark?" Yamamoto sent a heated flair of reiatsu at Kenpachi for his insolence. Kenpachi responded by releasing some of his own reiatsu. "I'm impatient old timer! I want to know if he has the pleasure of joining my squad!" He licked his lips, almost tasting the blood that would be shed if Ichigo was to be put on his squad.

"Silence! Kurosaki is already assigned to a squad, and it is most certainly not yours Zaraki! Central 46 has already decided where he would best be placed. Kurosaki Ichigo, you are to be placed within the second squad of the Gotei 13, as well as the Special Forces unit."

At this Sui Feng and Ichigo nearly lost their balance from the sheer shock of hearing this news. 'They can't be serious! This man doesn't deserve to be on my squad' Sui Feng thought as she straightened up slightly and looked at the Sotaicho, "Yamamoto-Sotaicho, surely there must be a mistake. Kurosaki doesn't have any stealth capability, anyone who is able to sense reiatsu can easily pinpoint Ichigo from a mile away!" Sui Feng did not want to have someone on her squad that would be able to mess with their capability of being unseen and unnoticed. Ichigo, as strong as he is, always had his power on full blast, much like Kenpachi does, and because of that, he was always able to be detected.

Yamamoto looked to Sui Feng, and understood her frustration. "I know how Kurosaki is, which is precisely why he is being placed into your squad. He is to be taught everything a basic shinigami knows. Central 46 wants him on your squad because they feel he would do the opposite of what you stated. I will speak to you privately after the meeting about it and more. For now, since he has been voted in, we can move onto Ichigo's test. He is to fight Omaeda for the position of Lieutenant. Should either combatant loose, he will start on the bottom rung and work his way up the ranks like everyone else does. This is as much of a test for Kurosaki as it is for Omaeda."

Part of Sui Feng wanted to break down in tears at the fact that this Ryoka, of all people is going to be joining her squad and her Special Forces unit. The other part of her was jumping for joy at the idea that if he beat Omaeda, she would not have to put up with his antics any longer. "H-hai, Sotaicho." Defeated in the fact that Ichigo had to be placed on her squad, with no room for negotiation, she began to focus on what things she would have the looser of the fight do around the squad barracks.

"Then, if there are no more outbursts, this meeting is concluded." Yamamoto watched as the majority of the captains left immediately, save for Sui Feng, who was waiting for the others to leave, and Renji and Shunsui, who were busy congratulating Ichigo on being able to join the Gotei 13. "Kurosaki, leave the room with Abari-Taicho and Kyōraku-Taicho. I have something to discuss with your new captain."

"Hai Yamamoto-Sotaicho." Ichigo looked to Renji and Shunsui, who were already beginning to leave the room. "Hey, wait up!" He jogged over to them and closed the doors behind him.

"Sui Feng, I understand your frustration with the situation. Allow me to explain why Central 46 has selected your squad specifically for Ichigo. They want him to join our ranks for power, but they want him on a leash. Your squad is perfect for such a feat. After his fight with Omaeda, keep a close eye on him and inform him of the rules. Also, I want you to personally teach him the skills that he does not know. The Central 46 sees Ichigo as a means for distraction for missions that require you to make a sacrifice to complete the mission. He has proven that he can survive more than the usual amount of pain, and that will be an asset to the Special Forces. One last detail; make sure he knows never to use his "friend" unless the situation absolutely calls for it, any other time, I will personally make sure he can never use it again. Did I make myself understandable and clear, Sui Feng? I expect to hear reports on Kurosaki's progress and mannerisms once a month." Yamamoto looked towards the currently distraught captain. He knew that she loathed doing something like this, but it had to be done, Central 46 had made its decision, and he would make sure the order was carried out.

Sui Feng was not looking forward to training and keeping an eye on Ichigo, but orders were orders, and it was her duty to perform them as flawlessly as possible. "Hai, Yamamoto-Sotaicho. I shall do what has been asked of me without fail." She bowed and turned to leave the room. She began to wonder, 'Just who is this 'friend' that Yamamoto-Sotaicho mentioned? I suppose I will ask Kurosaki about it later.'

Outside the doors Renji and Shunsui were talking to Ichigo. "I'm surprised you even made it this far Ichigo. I half expected Yamamoto to kick your ass right then and there." Renji snickered a bit, and Shunsui just shook his head sympathetically.

"Renji-kun, you shouldn't tease him like that. Yama-jii wouldn't do that, unless Ichigo-san did something to break a bunch of big rules. Now Ichigo-kun, what do you say, when Ukitake-san is feeling better, the four of us have a round or two of some fresh sake?" He looked at Ichigo, who was currently glaring daggers at Renji.

"Bite me Renji!" Ichigo looks at Shunsui apologetically. "As much as the offer is appreciated, I'm too young for that stuff. Though I do have to meet with Ukitake-Taicho and give him this badge back" He shows his old substitute badge to Shunsui

"Nonsense! You're a shinigami now; it is about time for you to partake in its benefits." Shunsui smiled and put on his Sugegasa. "Besides, while drinking with us you can give the badge back to Ukitake-kun."

"Can I at least think it over for a few nights first? I got to get used to the lifestyle and rules here first." Ichigo asked as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

Shunsui laughed a bit "Take as much time as you need, you have lots of it here now that you're a full time shinigami. I would stay and chat longer, but I'm sure Nanao-chan will throw a fit if I am gone any longer. Ja ne, Ichigo-kun, Renji-kun." With that, Shunsui turned and took his leave.

"I better get going too Ichigo. Being a captain has its perks, but the paperwork is always there." Renji waves as he walks away, leaving Ichigo alone to wait for his new captain to get done talking with the Sotaicho.

'_**Now if that's not irony, I don't know what is. First she votes against you, she says you should just go back home, and BAM! You're in the little hottie's squad, about to fight for the lieutenant position, and your part of the Special Forces. Its classic!**_' Hichigo was having another laughing fit, this day just kept getting better and better!

'No one asked you. Besides you saw how pissed she is at this. If I win or loose this fight, either way, she's not going to make this easy for me.' Ichigo wasn't in the mood for Hichigo's games, but sometimes when playing them, Hichigo came up with ideas that were actually helpful, but only sometimes.

'_**Like it matters if she's going to make it easy on you! You know as well as I do that you love challenges; and she's full of them. King, if you don't take this one as your own, I sure as hell will!**_' Hichigo licked his lips at the mere thought of 'taming' Sui Feng. '_**When you get the chance King, show her what you're capable of; both on and off the battlefield!' **_Hichigo started laughing again, both because he just caused Ichigo to go as red as a tomato, and because he knew that Ichigo would eventually take his advice, no matter how much Ichigo hated admitting it.

'You're a pain in the ass, you know that?' Before Hichigo got to retaliate, the doors to the captain's meeting room opened.

Sui Feng had the same look upon her face as when Ichigo had left the room. It was a look of distain, because not only did she have to put up with the new Shinigami, but she had several more tasks added to her plate as well. She now had to referee a fight between Ichigo and Omaeda to see who would become her lieutenant; she had to train Ichigo, in what she believed to be almost from scratch; and now she had to report personally on his actions and progress within her squads; and the issue of Ichigo's 'friend' was confusing her to some extent. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper.

"Kurosaki! We're leaving for the squad barracks. You can put your stuff on an empty bed for now. After that we are going to find my lieutenant so you can have the match against him. If you know what's best for yourself, don't loose this fight and make yourself useful to my squad." She decided, after a small mental squabble with Suzumebachi, if she was going to have Ichigo on her squad, despite it being a pain in the ass, she should be grateful for the chance to replace Omaeda.

Ichigo looked at Sui Feng, and nodded in affirmation "Hai, Sui Feng." He didn't know if he heard right, had she just rooted for him in the upcoming test? He soon shook the thought off as Sui Feng berated him.

"That's Sui Feng-Taicho to you Kurosaki. I'll allow that slip up for now, but if you make a habit of it, I will make you suffer for it. Understood?" Had it been anyone else, they would have been punished on the spot. Maybe some of Suzumebachi's carefree attitude was rubbing of on her.

"H-hai, Sui Feng-Taicho…" The unfamiliarity of the word 'Taicho' felt weird on Ichigo's tongue, he wasn't one for formality; but this was a new life that he needed to get used to, especially if he did not want to see what Sui Feng had in store for him if he disobeyed her. He knew she was not one to tolerate disobedience.

'_**HA! She has you whipped already King!**_' Much to Ichigo's chagrin, Hichigo was laughing up a storm once again. For the next few months; at least, Hichigo was going to be laughing his ass off at what he would consider to be 'antics' between Ichigo and Sui Feng.

Sui Feng nodded in approval, Ichigo caught on quick at the very least. She and Ichigo then left for the barracks. Sui Feng had a lot to do today, and she wanted to get as much done as possible before the sun set.

Along the way, Sui Feng had told him that if he makes lieutenant, his sleeping quarters would be in the room next to hers, which was one of the biggest rooms in the second squad's barracks. So it was wise just to put the bag on the empty bed, and wait until later to do anything. Once the two of them reached the barracks, Ichigo placed his duffel bag onto an empty bed, and then followed Sui Feng in search of her current lieutenant.

Looking for Omaeda was not much of a challenge. As soon as Sui Feng had left the barracks; seeing that her lieutenant was not in the office doing his share of paperwork, she headed for the mess hall, and found Omaeda chowing down on a few rice crackers and laughing with a few of the squad members.

"Omaeda! On your feet! You have a mission from Central 46 that is going to be started right now. Kurosaki and I will meet you in the training field in five minutes." With that being said and a sharp look in Omaeda's direction, Sui Feng left the mess hall and told Ichigo to follow her. Within two minutes they reached the field that Sui Feng spoke of.

"Before you ask why we're here early, I have higher orders telling you not to use your "friend" unless it is absolutely necessary. I don't know what that means, and while I want to know who what it is, now is not the time to ask about it. Aside from that, I will tell you the same thing I am going to tell Omaeda when he gets here; don't hold back, if you do, you're dead." Sui Feng looked ahead of them, not expecting a reply.

"I'll make sure to do that, but in return, I want to know, what exactly do the Special Forces do? I'm assuming you're in charge of it." Ichigo looked at Sui Feng, silently asking why she was also so cold towards everyone. But that question could wait, now was not the time or place to ask that.

"As you wish, Kurosaki, but we will discuss it after the fight." Sui Feng hated to admit it, but Ichigo was nearly as assertive as she was, and she liked that. She half expected him to ask the question that every captain and some of the members of her squad know the answer to, why she is cold to everyone. She was grateful that he did not; perhaps she would tell him if he made lieutenant.

Omaeda showed up with barely five seconds to spare. "I have arrived Taicho, what is the assignment that Central 46 had graced me with?" He eyed Ichigo carefully, he remembered that face, but he could not place where he had seen the young orange haired youth. He was also wondering what he was doing so close to his Taicho. Omaeda would never admit it, but he had a small crush on his captain. However, the last man who confessed to her ended up looking like a pretzel and was sent off to the fourth squad to get his joints popped back into place. He did not want to suffer the same fate, and ruin his 'handsome' face.

"Your assignment, Omaeda, is to fight Kurosaki. Your position is on the line in this fight, as dictated by Central 46. Whoever looses gets bumped down below the tenth seat. The rules are simple, fight with your all until the other person is incapacitated, or until they give up. Begin after you state your names." Sui Feng watched as Ichigo stepped forward and took Zangetsu off his back.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." Ichigo held Zangetsu in both hands, with his right foot spaced a foot in front of his left foot. He didn't need to say good luck, from what he saw; this squad was one of the hardest to be in, because everyone took care of themselves. Now that rule included him.

Omaeda had a shocked look on his face for a few moments before he took his own battle stance. Now he remembered Ichigo, he was the ryoka that beat him with one shot when Rukia was slated for execution. "You punk, you may have beaten me once before, but this time I'm ready for ya. My name is Marechiyo Yoshiayamenosuke Nikkōtarōemon Omaeda" He grinned and unsheathed his zanpaktou while calling out "Crush, Gegetsuburi!" The sword then took the form of a oversized spiked ball attached to a large chain. He then launched it at Ichigo, hoping to get in the first strike.

Ichigo however, saw it coming and lowered Zangetsu as he caught Gegetsuburi with one hand. "Is this it? If it is I'm kind of disappointed." Ichigo's eyes flashed ice blue for a second as he flared his reiatsu and tossed Omaeda's zanpaktou back at him. Following this Ichigo used shunpo and appeared behind Omaeda with Zangetsu's edge pointed at his back. "I suggest you give up, It would be best if we didn't have to send someone to the fourth squad."

Omaeda, not wanting to give up too easily and seem weak in front of Sui Feng, used shunpo to get away from in between Ichigo and Gegetsuburi, and effectively made Ichigo a target once again. "HA! As if I would give up so easily, you have a lot to learn Kurosaki! But don't worry, I'll teach you how a real shinigami fights. I didn't get this position for nothing!" Omaeda then used the chain attached to his zanpaktou and twirled it around Ichigo, in an attempt to keep Ichigo in place.

Looking at the chain around him; Ichigo, much to Omaeda's surprise, strained for only a few seconds and broke the chain, the spiked ball of Gegetsuburi was still coming at him, and instead of catching it, he stepped to the side and let it fly by him. "I hate to cut this short, but I don't feel like playing around anymore." Ichigo lifted Zangetsu until it was horizontal to the ground and placed his free hand on his sword arm. "Ban…Kai" In a flash of bright light, Ichigo's spiritual pressure dramatically rose, and caused Omaeda to sweat a little. Sui Feng looked at Ichigo with slightly widened eyes, feeling his now heightened reiatsu.

'Is this the power he beat Aizen with?' Sui Feng shielded her eyes slightly before the light faded away, revealing Ichigo holding a black steel katana with a small chain on the hilt. His upper outfit had changed as well, it was now looked like a black blazer with the bottom of it having the appearance of being torn multiple times. "Tensa Zangetsu."

Ichigo then appeared in front of Omaeda with Tensa Zangetsu aimed at Omaeda's throat. "I'll say it again…Give up before someone gets hurt." This time Omaeda nodded, knowing at his current level, he would not be able to even scuff Ichigo's coat.

Ichigo nodded and used shunpo to appear in front of Sui Feng. "He admitted defeat. I guess this makes me your new lieutennant." He resealed his bankai, and placed Zangetsu on his back. Sui Feng looked at him in slight amazement 'So, that is the power that beat Aizen… and his speed, it rivaled my own when using shunko'

"Very well. Omaeda, give your lieutenant badge to Kurosaki. You are to move your belongings to another room within the compound. Ichigo will be staying in your old quarters. Report to me later for your new duties and to receive the punishment for your defeat." Omaeda began to sweat at this, fearing his captain's punishment methods. He handed the badge to Ichigo, and ran off, fearing for what was to come his way later on. "As for you Kurosaki, congratulations on your victory. After your belongings are moved into your room, I want you to do the paperwork that Omaeda failed to do…better yet, let it there, and Omaeda will be by later to pick it up and finish it as part of his punishment." Inside her head, Sui Feng was ecstatic. She no longer had to directly deal with Omaeda and his horrible habits, and she now had a lieutenant who could hold his own on the battlefield, sure she still had to train him, but now she was looking forward to it. "Seeing as you went through a lot for your first day here; I'll let you off the hook for everything else we were supposed to do today, I'll also answer your questoins tomorrow. But don't get used to this easy treatment, this is a onetime deal. Tomorrow morning we hit the ground running. Understood?"

"Hai, Sui Feng…Taicho" He quickly added the last part as Sui Feng Slightly glared at him. He did not need her pissed off at him. He made his way back to the barracks where he dropped his stuff off, and moved it to the spacious room that he would now call his own. The luxuries that Omaeda had put in it were much appreciated by Ichigo, it made it seem like he was still back in Karakura town. Not long after he laid down on the King sized bed, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	4. Training Day and Questions Answered

Hello! I am very sorry about not getting this out sooner! I wrote it a week after chapter 3 was finished, but then I re-wrote it after reading it, some things just didn't seem to click. It seems like everyone is enjoying the story so far, I appreciate everyone's input and reviews, cause without you guys, I wouldn't know where to take the story next! I am again sorry for the delay on the publication of this chapter; holidays, college, life, and writers block are a royal pain in the arse. But the story is now on a new computer, and I am hoping that life will not impact my time on writing the story as badly as my first couple weeks did. Anywho! Onto the next chapter of Strawberry and the Bee: Training day and questions answered!

For Omaeda, the aftermath of the battle was devastating. First he lost the battle and his position as lieutenant to an upstart ryoka. Then Omaeda had to move his things to a new room, which meant he had to spend more of his family's money to upgrade this new room. And instead of the _new_ lieutenant doing the paperwork that Omaeda had failed to do, Omaeda himself was ordered by Sui Feng to finish the paperwork. His day was going from bad to worse. "This should not be happening; surely Central 46 did not intend to remove me from my rightfully earned position!" Omaeda was thinking in circles, trying to find a loophole of some sort that could possibly get him his position back, sadly for him, there was none.

Just as he was about to knock on his old room's door, he heard Ichigo's light snores coming from within. At that, he opened the door quietly and walked over to his old desk, looking like he was intending to do exactly as Sui Feng had ordered. That is, he was until he spotted the arm of a stuffed animal poking out from the inside of Ichigo's duffel bag, which had yet to be unpacked. 'What's this?' Omaeda made his way as quietly as possible to the duffel bag. He slowly opened it, not wanting to risk another ass kicking by the sleeping orange haired youth. He lifted the stuffed animal out of the bag by the arm that was sticking out and looked carefully at it. It appeared very old, and by the looks of it, it had gone through the wringer more than once, just by feeling the nearly unnoticeable stitch marks that lined its body. The most noticeable feature of the stuffed animal is its flattened head, and on the back of said head, it has a blue cross pattern stitched into it. 'A stuffed...lion? Why would this guy carry…?' A sudden twisted idea formed in Omaeda's head. If his assumption was correct, this lion was Kurosaki's childhood toy, and he couldn't leave home without it. This was just what he needed to get some dirt on Kurosaki. In Omaeda's mind no one would listen to a masculine guy like Kurosaki if everyone knew that he kept a stuffed animal. He tucked the toy into his Hamaka, intending to show it to the other squad members when he got done with the last of his paperwork.

'With this, your handsome lieutenant will soon return to your side, Sui Feng-Taicho.' He grabbed the semi-small stack of paperwork before exiting the room, with thoughts of sullying Kurosaki's name before the day was done. After sliding the door to Ichigo's room shut, Omaeda almost skipped to the mess hall, not wanting to wait to get his position back.

Unbeknownst to him, Sui Feng had been following him the whole time; she wanted to be sure that he was actually going to do the last of his paperwork. One thing that many soul reapers of the other squads do not know is that she has a soft spot for cats. She watched as Omaeda picked up the stuffed animal and examined it.

"_**So, this Kurosaki guy has a soft spot for cats too, looks like he's your kind of guy, Sui Feng.**_" Suzumebachi giggled at the apparent similarity. Sui Feng however did not find it so funny.

'Just because he has a stuffed cat does not make him my kind of guy.' She looked away and blushed slightly when she added '…plus it's not a black cat. It's a lion, nothing like me.' She furrowed her brow slightly, wanting to berate Suzumebachi but she was not able to find the words to do so.

"_**He has a toy lion and you have a collection of black cats. It doesn't make you that different from him. He has a soft spot for certain things like you do. And you should get it off of Omaeda before he does anything to it. I know how you would be if it was one of your collection in his hands.**_" Suzumebachi chirped the last part, and Sui Feng had to agree with her Zanpaktou, with that malicious glint in his eye, Omaeda was up to no good with Kurosaki's possession, and even though she normally let her subordinates take care of their own lives and problems, Sui Feng did feel a small connection with Ichigo, despite the fact that she hated to admit said connection. 'Fine, I'll get it from Omaeda…Kurosaki had better appreciate this.'

Suzumebachi smirked at this "_**He will, it gives you a reason to be able to talk to Kurosaki-kun about more personal things.**_" Sui Feng almost stopped dead in her tracks when Suzumebachi mentioned this, and decided instead to hold onto the toy for a bit after she got it from Omaeda.

"Omaeda! What do you think you are doing?" Sui Feng decided to reveal herself when Omaeda was about to walk into the mess hall and show off the new lieutenants stuffed lion.

"S-Sui Feng-Taicho! I was…going to complete my paperwork, like you requested." Omaeda turned to his Taicho. He was hoping she would not notice the lump in his hamaka.

"In the mess hall? I know you eat a lot Omaeda, but that is taking it too far." Sui Feng looked at Omaeda's hamaka and saw the lion shaped lump in it. "You may as well hand it over Omaeda. I can see Kurosaki-fukutaicho's possession in your Hamaka, clear as day." She only said Kurosaki's title to show Omaeda' that he no longer had the capability of doing as he pleased anymore. It seemed to work as Omaeda's gaze widened as he heard Sui Feng add the title to the ryoka's name. She held out her hand, waiting for him to hand over the item in question.

He knew he had to think quickly, "But Taicho, this is my good luck charm, after loosing my position as Fukutaicho; I feel I need to carry it around to help myself feel better." He hated lying to the object of his affection, but he desperately wanted his position back.

His quick thinking was not quick enough. Sui Feng narrowed her eyes slightly. "That is a load of bull and you know it Omaeda. Now hand it over, that's an order." Sui Feng holds out her hand and glares up at Omaeda, daring him to lie to her face or disobey her again.

"B-but, I-I…fine…" Realizing he was caught and there was no way out, he reluctantly handed it over. "I was only doing it as a joke Sui Feng-Taicho; I did not mean any harm."

"Joke or not, I will not tolerate any insubordination. You know this better than anyone else." With that, Sui Feng, with "Bostov" in hand, then uses shunpo to get away from Omaeda as soon as possible. As soon as she got to her room and office, she opened a medium sized curio cabinet and added the lion to her collection. Though it stood out from her collection of black cat plushies and figurines, it looked almost as if it belonged there. Sui Feng smiled slightly as she closed the curio door.

"_**Getting a soft spot for your new lieutenant, eh Sui Feng?**_" Suzumebachi did not want to let this little act of fondness go unchecked.

"Don't be ridiculous, I just feel that it would be…safer for it to remain with me until Omaeda gets it through his thick skull that he is no longer in the position to do as he pleases." Sui Feng shifted her eyes away from her collection of cat items, as a small blush rose on her cheeks. She remembered the feeling from her fingers as they brushed across the tattered fabric of the lion plush, and almost reluctantly, she imagined Ichigo as a child holding onto it when it was new.

Suzumebachi knew that there was more to the story than that, "_**Oh, yes that's why you're blushing right now**_." She rolled her eyes as Sui Feng blushed a little more. "_**Seriously Sui Feng, if you don't take him as your own, some other female shinigami will. I think that Kuchiki Rukia girl has her eye on him.**_" At this, Suzumebachi both hears and watches Sui Feng's breath hitch slightly, signifying that she does indeed hold a soft spot for him; though how big that spot is, would be another matter.

Sui Feng sighed and looked out of one the windows in her room "Even if I did have a soft spot for him, he isn't the type to notice something like that." Her fingers brushed across the tattered fabric of the lion plush and she once again imagined Ichigo as a child holding onto it for dear life when it was new. She soon let he mind wander on the subject for a while longer before disciplining herself and soon began to start the pile of paper work that was waiting for her because of the addition and change of rank of her most recent and intriguing squad member. Her feelings would have to wait; the only things more important were her dedication to her duties and her loyalty to Yourichi-Sama.

Ichigo, while appearing to sleep soundly, was far from doing that. Instead, his dreams were being haunted by both the images that Hichigo was conjuring up of the small captain, as well as images of said captain that his own mind was betraying him with. Needless to say, Ichigo was both enjoying the slideshow of images and cursing himself and Hichigo for even imagining such provocative positions and poses of Sui Feng. Within his own inner world, things were going from funny, to downright hilarious for Hichigo.

"_**C'mon King! You and I both know that you want the captain! Hell, did you see her face when you went into Bankai? If she was already yours, she would have thrown herself all over you at that display of power.**_" Hichigo, in one of the soon to become rare moments of not either ogling Sui Feng or laughing his ass off at Ichigo's inability to admit his attraction to the petite captain, grinned and looked at Ichigo. "_**I mean, there is the fact that she seems to care less about that former lieutenant of hers, the fact that she didn't kill you for staring at her ass, and the looks she was giving you during the battle, I'd say she is getting the hots for you, and fast. I say, as soon as you can, take her and make her yours."**_ Hichigo had long since noticed Omaeda taking the plush toy, but honestly, he could care less about it at the moment, in fact he welcomed the intrusion of privacy. He thought it would be rather amusing to watch Ichigo explain it to Sui Feng when he found it missing and possibly in her possession.

"You know…you can shut up any time now." Ichigo had a healthy blush running from ear to ear. The healthy young man part of him was enjoying the imagery of both his and Ichigo's imaginations, but the disciplined side of him desperately wanted to shove Hichigo off the buildings that existed in Ichigo's mindscape for even thinking of such thoughts. "The reasons you listed are just flukes, she's probably going to give me hell tomorrow." Ichigo could not imagine the types of training that Sui Feng had in store for him, hopefully it was better than what his father decided to do, and he couldn't handle another person diving into his room just to dropkick him in the face as a wakeup call.

Hichigo, not for the first time, decided to ignore the order to shut up. "_**And your point is? If she makes life hell on you, it might be her way of telling you to toughen up some more for her and a reason for her to stare at you in exchange. So suck it up and do what any self respecting male would do, prove your worth her time. I would do it for you, but somebody aside from you is a stick in the mud, and we have been ordered not to use my power to boot.**_" Hichigo obviously had no sympathy for his counterpart, and he felt it was more than a little unfair to be kept cooped up unless in an extreme circumstance popped up.

"You know… you're supposed to be on my side here." Ichigo growled at his hollow, as much as he hated to admit it, Hichigo did make valid points.

"_**What, and avoid seeing you so distraught? I wouldn't dream of it King.**_" Hichigo started cackling again, knowing that he was causing Ichigo massive amounts of discomfort and annoyance. With little else to say, Ichigo decided to do his best to ignore the very distracting pictures of Sui Feng that his mind and Hichigo was conjuring up, and tried relax.

The next morning, around 6:45 A.M., the door to the Second Squad Lieutenant's room slowly slid open, the intruder, made their way to the bed, upon which laid its inhabitant, a tall orange haired youth whom was sleeping soundly. Without much hesitation, the intruder decided to wake up the hapless youth by literally kicking him in the ass and forced him off of the bed.

Ichigo, having then fallen off the bed in a very unceremonious manner, sat up relatively quickly, ready to deck whoever decided to interrupt his sleep. "What the hell?! Who wakes people up like that?" Ichigo glared at the intruder, and his glare immediately disappeared upon seeing that the "intruder" was his Captain.

"I wake up people in this manner when I have to teach them about the skills that they lack. Obviously you lack many skills; otherwise you would have been able to dodge my wakeup call." Sui Feng looked at Ichigo with her usual indifference, earlier on she had decided that until Ichigo is able to perform proficiently without her help, she would treat him like any other new squad member who needs training. "We have wasted enough time as is, so get off your ass so we can get this over with." Sui Feng shifted her gaze from Ichigo to one of his windows, the one thing her mind forgot to register until now was that Ichigo had slept only in his Hamaka pants, which left his toned upper body exposed to the morning sun, and the shadows played on his skin in an almost hypnotizing way for Sui Feng. She shook herself free of the thoughts and images that Suzumebachi had been placing into her head, and turned to leave Ichigo's room. "Meet me at the same field we were at yesterday in five minutes. We will start your training there." She then walked out of the room and disappeared from sight.

Ichigo watched as she left, and decided to heed her warning of five minutes. It seemed like something else was on her mind, but it would be best to wait until she wanted to talk with him to address it. After slipping on the rest of his outfit, he slipped the Lieutenant's badge onto his right bicep, and adjusted it to fit his arm. "It's going to be a long day…I'd better not piss her off." And with that, he too left his room and made his way to the training field.

Sui Feng found that she did not have to wait very long for her new lieutenant, which was very refreshing for a change. Omaeda usually had her waiting an additional few minutes at the very least. Sure he made up for it with his loyalty, but his constant lateness, laziness and messy eating habits got on her nerves. Ichigo however, aside from being easier on her eyes to look at, appeared to be at least trying to make an effort not to make her mad. This would not convince her to be any easier on Ichigo when it came to teaching him the basics of the Second Squad and Special Forces. "Before I teach you anything, I first want to know what you do know how to do as a Shinigami." Sui Feng crossed her arms over her chest, and looked at some of the other squad members who were doing their own personal training.

"Well, I can obviously use shunpo pretty well, you've personally saw how good I am with Zangetsu, but kido, I don't know a thing about." Ichigo scratched the back of his head as he said this. He thought his skills were good enough to beat most of his opponents, but to Sui Feng, he was just lucky and the skills that Ichigo had needed to be honed to a razors edge, and the skills he did not have needed to be learned, that is, if he was even able to perform a basic Kido spell.

"Whatever the case may be, you will be trained in everything. I don't care how good you think you are, there is always someone better. But at least we know the gist of what you are capable of." Sui Feng sighed, and turned towards Ichigo. "We may as well see if you can perform kido. If it blows up in your face by the end of the day, then we will ignore that skill set completely." Sui Feng smirked when Ichigo visibly whitened at her last statement. It would seem that training Ichigo would be more fun than she thought.

"First things first, let's see just how good your shunpo skills actually are." Sui Feng, then proceeded to punch Ichigo in the arm, and looked at Ichigo with what some would consider as an evil smirk and simply said, "You're it." She then vanished from sight

For the split second that she was standing there, he gave her a confused look; then smirked as an instant after she disappeared, he did too. Their game of tag was an interesting one to say the least. Every time Ichigo got close to tagging Sui Feng, she increased her speed, made a sudden movement in the other direction, or she "tagged" him first. Her tags ended up giving him several bruises; she certainly kept her word that she would not go easy on him. Without realizing the time that passed, they ended up playing this unwatchable game of tag for four hours. When they finally stopped, Sui Feng ended up tagging Ichigo at least 50 times, she had honestly lost track after that, and Ichigo had only tagged her 10 times. Though he knew she had more experience with shunpo, he still growled in frustration for not being able to catch the petite captain as much as he should have. Sui Feng only sighed and looked towards Ichigo.

Before she could say anything though, a voice that both Ichigo and Sui Feng were familiar with decided to speak up. "Don't beat yourself over not catching her Ichigo. Out of everyone in the squad, you tagged her the most." Their mutual teacher Yoruichi was leaning against a tree, an apple in her hand and a sly smile on her face. "Though this is unexpected, both of my former pupils training together. It must be destiny." The last part was added to get a rise out of her students, and a rise she got. Both of her students visibly blushed, and made statements denying such a thing.

"Y-yoruichi-Sama!" was all Sui Feng could say, she wanted to protest, but could not form the proper words, at least, not without insulting her mentor.

"Don't just assume things Yoruichi! Just because we are your students does not mean you can poke fun at something like that." Ichigo, however, had no problem with telling the dark skinned Goddess of Flash off. But with doing so, he earned himself a fist to the back of his head by Sui Feng.

"You shouldn't speak like that to someone like Yoruichi-Sama!" Sui Feng obviously still held her mentor and former Taicho in very high regards.

A chuckle escaped Yoruichi's velvet soft lips, she was amused at how the pair acted, they were almost like a couple…this gave her a few ideas on getting the two of them together. Pushing such thoughts aside for later, she decided to encourage Ichigo a little. "You think you were bad? You should have seen Omaeda try the same thing. He only tagged Sui Feng once, while she got him over 150 times. No contest. Everyone else was at most able to get 3 or 4 tags."

Ichigo couldn't believe it. "You're shitting me. If he was that bad how the hell did he even get this position?" He looked over to Sui Feng whose blush had calmed down a lot, and found that she was smirking at the memory of delivering a sound beating to Omaeda.

"There were actually a couple of reasons. First was that his family has had a decent amount of pull within the Gotei 13 and Central 46. And second, was that power and speed are always not what makes you a lieutenant. He is a brilliant tactician. But that is about all he had going for himself." Yoruichi took a bite out of her apple and looked at the pair. "One way or another, he was on the edge of getting a demotion. Ichigo's arrival here in Seireitei, if anything, both dealt with an inefficient Fukutaicho, and dealt with replacing said Fukutaicho at the same time. But with how well you did in the past Ichigo, I think you and Sui Feng will work together well." She pointed to Ichigo as she was saying this and though she did not verbally admit it, Sui Feng agreed with her teacher.

"As fun as this has been…" Yoruichi stretches and turns to walk out of the compound "…I've got to get going. I'll see you two love-birds around" She flashes one of her infamous catlike grins and winks at them before she disappears from sight as she turns a corner, leaving a now blushing Sui Feng, once again alone with an equally red Ichigo.

As if to rid himself of the words that Yoruichi spoke to them, Ichigo shakes his head back and forth a few times before turning to look at Sui Feng. "Before we continue…yesterday you said you had some questions to ask me?"

Slightly startled by her mentor's words, Sui Feng almost misses Ichigo's question. She sighs and decides to ask her first question. "The Sotaicho mentioned that you have a little friend of sorts…what exactly is it?"

Already slapping himself for thinking she forgot about it, he decided that he had little choice but to answer her. "I'm sure you remember the Vizards that fought during the Winter War against Aizen, as well as the origin of their…special powers, right?" Sui Feng nodded, remembering the hollow-like masks that the Vizards donned when they fought. Ichigo drew a deep breath. "Well, to say it bluntly, I have the same power that they do. I have a hollow inside of me." Sui Feng was slightly surprised, she knew that the Vizards had access to hollow powers, but she did not realize that there was a hollow living inside of them. Taking her silence as a signal to continue, he spoke again "It's hard to explain…It at first used to want to take control of me so it could do whatever it wanted, and a few times; it succeeded. Then Shinji and the other Vizards helped me gain control of it, and since then, my hollow has been…cooperative." He looked to Sui Feng, and tried reading the expressions that she had upon her face.

'A Hollow; held inside and working with him? That would explain the restriction of power…as well as how he came to acquire it.' Sui Feng didn't entirely get how it worked, but after seeing what Vizards could do, she decided not to question something that obviously worked. "That explains the reason for restriction…That actually answers a few of my questions. But I expect you to answer any other questions I find fit to ask later on, understood Kurosaki?" Sui Feng stood up and walked a short distance back into the training field.

Ichigo nodded his head and answered with a simple "Hai, Sui Feng Taicho," before getting up and following her to the field where she had several box shaped targets set up.

Sui Feng gestured to one of the targets, "This is the second part of your training. Pay attention because I'm only going to explain this once." She then faced one of the targets and held her arm out, palm facing the target and started her explanation of this lesson. "Each Kidō spell is graded on a scale from 1 to 99, the latter being the most powerful and the most difficult to perform. The scale is a measure of difficulty, as there can be multiple spells which share the same level. To use Kidō, you must recite the specific incantation for the spell, which is often long and requires a few seconds to speak." She broke her explination to take a breath and looked to see if Ichigo was paying attention, which not surprisingly, he was.

"This weakness can be negated by Shinigami capable of using Eishōhaki or_ Incantation Abandonment_, a technique that releases Kidō without the spirit chant. While it decreases the time needed to release the Kidō, it drastically weakens the spell. While anyone well versed in Kidō can use this technique, it is most effective when done by a skilled practitioner, otherwise the spell could utterly fail…meaning it will blow up in your face if you are unable to properly do it. I will be teaching you a simple hadō, then a simple bakudō" Sui Feng then braces her outstretched arm with the other, and begins building up her reiatsu while she moves her hand to point at the target. "First gather the energies around your arms, they will dictate where the spell is unleashed, then recite the chant: _Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Wind and will,__ fight the oncoming waves, and make your presence known! Hadō #1. __Sho!_" After the incantation was over, nothing appeared to happen with Sui Feng, but the target on the other hand, ended up being forced off of its post and was tossed back at least 5 meters. After lowering her hand, Sui Feng looked to Ichigo and gestured to another target. "Think you can handle that much?"

"It doesn't seem that hard. I'll give it a shot." Ichigo positioned himself in front of the target and began focusing his reiatsu around his arms. As he did this, the wind slightly picked up and seemed to focus around Ichigo and his arms "_Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Wind and will,__ fight the oncoming waves, and make your presence known! Hadō #1. __Sho!_" For a few moments it appeared that nothing happened, then without warning, both Ichigo and the target were sent hurling in opposite directions. The target, ended up being flung about fifty meters from its origin, and Ichigo, ended up crashing into the wall that was about 4 meters behind him. Sui Feng watched this and only had one thing going through her mind 'Ichigo Kurosaki was not one of the Shinigami who could use hadō effectively.' She walked over to an undamaged part of the wall and leaned against it while watching Ichigo, who was too preoccupied with the result of his kido to notice Sui Feng's close proximity. "Well, that proves one thing, while you can perform the spells, your Reiatsu is way too uncontrolled yet to be able to perform them properly. The only thing to do now, is teach you how to control your reiatsu, then we may come back to teaching you the Hadō and Bakudō techniques."

Ichigo nodded his head "That is if we can get me to control my reiatsu. Ishida once told me my reiatsu was like a water faucet that was on full blast. I don't know how to turn down the pressure, so I can't properly suppress my power." Sui Feng sighed and wacked Ichigo upside the head when he said this.

"Baka! That's why we are going to teach you how to do it, even if it takes longer than normal. You're in my squad, so you're going to learn how to suppress your power. We start now."

There it is folks, Chapter four of Strawberry and the Bee. Decided to make it a cliffie to make the intro to chapter 5 more interesting and enable me to make a small time skip. Sorry once again about the delay, I hope to get chapter five up by at least next week. Don't forget to review! Ja ne!


	5. Training and Emotions

Patience: it was one of the key elements of the Onmitsukido. It is what enables all of its members to perform their missions flawlessly, for it provides them the temperance to sit and wait for their target or the fruits of their labors to show. But even this patience wears thin when performing one task for a long period of time. Sui Feng was beginning to experience this, as even after 6 hours of training and trying; Ichigo had yet to reduce the amount of reiatsu that he naturally pushed out. Despite having no training beforehand, it was taking way too long for something so simple.

"…You're really hopeless at this aren't you?" Sui Feng felt like just giving up on this endeavor, but if Ichigo was to become a useable member of her squad, this was something he needed to learn.

"Urusai! I'm trying my best here." Ichigo was also growing frustrated at his lack of progress. 'I can fight to a draw with Byakuya but can't master this, what the hell?!'

Hichigo growing bored with the whole situation, let out a frustrated sigh, "_**King, don't you think the reason you can't focus your reiatsu is because you have TOO much of it? Don't get me wrong, having this much power is great, but what your trying to do is impossible! It's like trying to peel the skin off an apple with a claymore, it just doesn't happen, at least not without assistance."**_

'What are you getting at?' Ichigo looked towards Hichigo, who was lying on his side.

"_**Just tell that babe Sui Feng to get you something to assist you in reducing your reiatsu's output, kind of like that Kenpachi, doesn't he have something like that?"**_

'For once I think you're onto something.' Hichigo flipped Ichigo the bird at this.

"_**For once' my pale ass! You would be dead if you didn't listen to me when you needed me. Get outta here and make my life more interesting, watching you sit on your ass is more boring than counting the sand in Hueco Mundo."**_

"Sui Feng?" Opening his eyes, Ichigo takes note of how much time has truly passed as he looks to Sui Feng.

"What is it Kurosaki? If it isn't important, don't tell me." The time was definitely taking its toll on both of the Shinigami.

"It concerns the reduction of my reiatsu so yes, it is important."

"…Then spit it out, the sooner you tell me the sooner we can get on with your training." Sui Feng looked to Ichigo, hoping that whatever he had to say wasn't going to waste her time.

"…I was thinking, instead of me trying to control such a large amount of reiatsu on my own, shouldn't I be using something to assist with it?" Ichigo hoped he worded that right, bringing up his own inability to do something was something that he normally didn't do.

"Assistance with your reiatsu suppression…what do you have in mind?" Sui Feng normally disapproved of outside assistance when it came to dealing with the training of basic skills of her squad. In the field there were no handouts; everything must be earned… but seeing as they made little, scratch that- no progress on their own, she was open to anything at this point.

"I was thinking of something similar to what Kenpachi uses. Though I am not looking forward to meeting with Kurotsuchi-teme to obtain one." Ichigo shuddered at the thought of meeting with the moral-less captain of the 12th division.

Sui Feng gave a small smirk at the attitude that Ichigo had towards Kurotsuchi, "I don't think anyone meets with him unless they absolutely have to. Very well, I will see to it that he makes one for you. Though I get to pick what they are. Admittedly this is a better alternative than sitting here all day watching you do nothing."

"As long as it's not a freaky eye-patch like Kenpachi's I don't care what it is." Ichigo let the comment about him doing nothing slide, as he felt the same way about it. "What should I do until your return Sui Feng…Taicho?" The word still felt foreign on his tongue, but remembering what she told him earlier it was best that he kept using it. He could care less for Kurotsuchi and the titles he has, but Sui Feng was his captain and was far more likely to cause him harm if he did otherwise.

"…resume practicing your Kido until my return, you may be horrible at it, but you have at least some potential in it." With that she left via shunpo towards the 12th division headquarters.

"W-wait! ... damn, didn't even let me know how long until she will be back…" Ichigo shrugged and turned towards the target field "guess there is nothing else to do but wait for her." With that, he resumed training.

"My, my! Sui Feng-Taicho, to what do I owe this unexpected and unwanted visit?" Despite sounding surprised, Kurotsuchi Mayuri expected Sui Feng to show up in his complex sooner or later, but he did not expect to have her alone, as he wanted Ichigo to be in the building for observation, and perhaps if the chance arose, a sample of some sort to be taken from him; Hair, skin, blood, other bodily fluids or organs, it really didn't matter. He put down the tablet he was currently holding and walked past her without even looking at her.

Sui Feng narrowed her eyes a little but nodded curtly to the creepy scientist, "It is a matter concerning Ichigo Kurosaki and his training. I require some Reiatsu suppressors, preferably ones that can easily be removed."

"Mmm... I expected as much. Follow me, I wouldn't want you to see my more sensitive experiments, they aren't ready for Sereti to use on a mass scale yet and I prefer keeping my work under wraps." Kurotsuchi kept walking down a hall and made no visible clues of his stopping anytime soon. Sui Feng simply fell in line behind him and hoped she would not have to be in the presence of Kurotsuchi very long.

The halls they passed through while not very large, they were long and bland, starch white with no windows, and light coming from thin bars with no visible power source on the ceiling and floors. They soon came to a door marked with 'RRD' scrawled in large print on it.

After pressing his thumb to the keypad next to the door, both captains walked through the door and stepped into the room. Kurotsuchi casually waved a hand to the items throughout the department room, items which ranged from strange clothing items that looked more at home in a haunted house, a dungeon, or on the fashion runway to mundane items that were common throughout Sereti and Earth. "This is the Reiatsu Research Departments storage room. Pick any of the items you see fit to use on Kurosaki. Take multiple if you need to, some are more fragile and likely to break in combat than others." Kurotsuchi had already planned on this scenario, and therefore planted bugs in each of the items. No matter which one Sui Feng picked, Kurotsuchi would be able to keep a very close eye on Ichigo and monitor him. 'Perhaps now I can get some research done…still not as good as having him here, but beggars can't be choosers.'

"See yourself out once you are done grabbing what you need. I don't need to remind you to stay on the path we came in on do I?" Kurotsuchi then walked out of the room to get back to more pressing matters, leaving Sui Feng on her own.

As Sui Feng scanned the reiatsu suppression accessories, she was instantly drawn to the more common items.

"_**Ooh! Those would look cute on him!"**_ Suzumebachi's eyes lit up at some of the items that Sui Feng was eyeing. Said items consisted of some white chokers with thick bands of black running through their centers, a set of jade rings of varying colors, and a thin yet surprisingly strong steel chain that was wrapped around the wrist of a mannequin. As much as Sui Feng hated to agree with her Zanpakuto on matters concerning Ichigo, she did feel that he would look…rather handsome while wearing them. She also picked the three different items, because the more supressors Ichigo had, the lower his reiatsu would be, making him harder and harder to detect. Shaking her head of images of Ichigo wearing the items, she gathered all the rings, chokers, and chains and placed them in the small pouch she prepared beforehand, and made a hasty exit, not wanting to remain in the same building complex as Kurotsuchi any longer.

His face awash in eerie white light from the monitor screens that he was watching; Kurotsuchi made a mental note to create more of the items that Sui Feng took, feeling that more of the trinkets would be required for future use. He sighed, knowing that no matter what his protests were towards the ryoka and his placement, the powers that be would never let him have his way, and he would have to live with what little information he could get from the soon to be actively used suppressors. He turned off the monitors to the RRD storage room and turned to his other experiments, hoping they would keep him somewhat occupied until Ichigo's data started coming in.

* * *

"Uwaaah!" For the umpteenth time, after flying backwards and hitting the ground, Ichigo picked himself up from the ground and brushed the debris off his shoulder and front. He looked towards the target dummies, and saw the devastation that his attempts at Kido had caused.

"Kuso…It doesn't look like I'm getting any better at this." He looked down at his hands and clenched them slowly, wondering where he was going wrong with his attempts. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, he heard a familiar voice cut through the clearing.

"So you're the one causing this mess, eh Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked to where he heard the voice coming from and saw Ikkaku Madarame walking over to him from the tree line, with his sword lazily balanced on his shoulders.

"Ikkaku, what are you doing here?" Ichigo stood up from his seated position on the ground and dusted himself off while Ikkaku made his way over to him.

"You mean aside from wondering who or what was cursing up a storm and making a racket, while I enjoyed some sake in the shade?" Ikkaku smirked as Ichigo grunted and looked to his left at Ikkaku's question. "Guessing by the destruction on both sides of the field, I'm going to assume you were attempting kido…and failing miserably at it." At this Ichigo shot a glare at Ikkaku, who in turn grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"It's not as easy as it looks. Rukia and Sui Feng make it look like a walk in the park." Ichigo ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair, and looked at Ikkaku who was now sitting on a boulder and was reaching for his sake container. "You got any got any tips for me Ikakku?"

Ikkaku snorted after taking a swig of sake, "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret Ichigo, not all shinigami can perform kido properly. Just ask Renji the next time you see him." He looks from Ichigo to the field.

"I kind of remember Renji sucking at Kido when we were in Hueco Mundo, now that you mention it… What about having a suppressor for my reiatsu, wont that make it easier to cast Kido?" Ichigo tilted his head slightly and wondered what the problem would be.

"The amount of reiatsu you have doesn't matter. You can have as much as Zaraki or as little as those guys from the 4th division. Your control of your reiatsu can be great too, but that is not the point. The only way to become good at it is just to keep practicing. And I don't mean for just a few weeks. This is the kind of thing that is going to take time, especially for someone who sucks at Kido." He smirks a bit "But lucky for you, as full time shinigami, you got all the time in the world, providing that you aren't killed in the field or by your Taicho first…that and you do have better control than Renji did when he first started." He chuckles before he takes another swig of the sake and tosses the container to Ichigo.

As Ichigo was about to catch the bottle, it disappears from the air and reappears in Sui Feng's grip. "I hope you weren't planning on drinking while you were under my supervision Kurosaki." She disdainfully looks from the bottle in her left hand to Ichigo. "And you! Shouldn't you be with the rest of the boneheads that make up your squad?" She looks from Ichigo to Ikkaku.

Ikkaku was the first to speak up "What I do has nothing to do with the others in my squad, nor do I care how they train themselves. I heard a racket from this field and found my good friend here making a mess of the place. So I offered some advice and a drink." He puts his hand out expecting Sui Feng to return the container to him after his answer.

Soifong looks to the bottle in her hand and after a few seconds, she proceeds to pour out its contents onto the ground. "Be that as it may, I will not tolerate alcohol consumption by my subordinates while on my training grounds, regardless if I am present or not." Ikkaku had a shocked expression on his face while watching his precious drink being drained onto the ground. "…that…was my best stuff…" Sui Feng then tossed the empty container to Ikkaku, who simply cried over the loss of his drink.

"…Sorry, Ikkaku. I'll pay you back and get you a fresh bottle of whatever brand it was once we are out with Renji, Shunsui and Ukitake, alright?" Ichigo only saw a slight nod and a mumble as Ikkaku kept looking at his bottle. Normally, Ichigo would have expected Ikkaku to be pissed and challenge Sui Feng to a fight, but the loss of the sake seemed to be too much for the bald shinigami at the moment, He felt a little pity for his friend.

"He'll get over it eventually." Sui Feng ignored Ikkaku as she looked to Ichigo and to the upturned field. "Any progress on your kido?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Not really. Like Ikkaku told me, it's going take more than a few hours or even weeks of work to learn how to perform these as easily as you or any of the other captians…Any news from Kurostichi?" He looked from Ikkaku to his captain, hoping that they wouldn't have to go back to the mad scientist any time soon.

"I expected as much… as for your question, it would seem Kurostichi planned ahead. He must have been working on different suppressors before we even thought of it." She takes out the small satchel and hands it to Ichigo "There are three different items, we start with one of them, see how much your reiatsu is dropped, and work our way to wearing one of each at the same time. After we do that, then we will restart your training with the little game of tag match we had earlier."

Ichigo opens the satchel and pulls out one of the rings and inspects it, "Well, it's better than an eye patch…" He tries placing the ring on each of his fingers, only to find that it only fits on his ring fingers. Seeing this he hastily puts it on his right ring finger to avoid any odd looks from Sui Feng or anyone else. Once he does this he feels his reiatsu drop by half.

"Is this enough of a drop?" He looks to Sui Feng and sees her shake her head in disagreement. He shrugs and pulls out one of the wrist chains, which looks long enough to be a necklace, but is slightly too small for it. He wraps it around his left wrist twice before securing it closed, and feels another half drop off of his reiatsu. Oddly, he doesn't feel weakened, and assumes the items are doing what they needed to. He looks to Sui Feng, "final item?" She nods and waits for him to finish, looking away from him, appearing to be slightly impatient. Ichigo sighs slightly and pulls out the choker and frowns, "Not wanting to point out the obvious, but why a choker of all things?"

Sui Feng looks at him with narrowed eyes a slight flush on her face, "It was that, or a leather collar with a chain. Take your pick of what looks more appropriate. I'd rather not mention the other items in that room; now put it on so we can get this over with." Ichigo nods quickly and places the choker on his neck, and tries to ignore the feeling of it on his neck, and feels one final drop of his reiatsu, another half shaved off the pervious drop.

Sui Feng nods in satisfaction at the level that Ichigo's reiatsu dropped to, feeling more like the level that any shinigami who has control keeps their reiatsu at. "Good, now that your reiatsu has been taken care of, lets test how much you can compensate for it." She disappears from her spot and hits Ichigo's arm before disappearing into the forest.

"_**King, if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was blushing before she hit you, maybe it's got something to do with the accessories she got you…"**_ Hichigo smirked and chuckled a bit as he conjured the image of a shirtless Ichigo blushing with said collar on his neck, and the chain being held by a smirking Sui Feng in black lingerie. _**"I think she was thinking of seeing you like this, considering she took the time to mention that **_**specific**_** item."**_ Ichigo flushed at the idea of Sui Feng in lingerie and cursed his inner hollow for his perverted ways 'Now is so not the time for this!' Hichigo simply began cackling. Ichigo did not want to have a mental battle while he was trying to keep up with Sui Feng and not get pummeled by her as they continued their tag match. Little did he know Sui Feng was having a similar issue.

"_**Just admit it Sui Feng, seeing him wear those hand-picked items and get all worked up and sweaty got you all tingly, didn't it?"**_ Suzumebachi grinned as she flashed Sui Feng a similar image that was shown to Ichigo.

'I don't have feelings for him!' Sui Feng shook her head as she tagged Ichigo again and disappeared elsewhere in the forest, with Ichigo not too far behind her.

"_**I never said anything about feelings for him, it seems like you got more than just the hots for our fukutaicho…oop! He caught you again."**_ Suzumebachi giggled at the slip from her owner and filed that important bit of information away for later, as she watched Ichigo tag Sui Feng for the third time during their little game

'Shut it Suzumebachi! We agreed that until he was up to par, I wouldn't show any emotion." Suzumebachi simply laughed at this and smiled _**"It doesn't change the fact that you keep thinking of how hot he is, and even though his reiatsu is repressed, he is still giving you a run for your money." **_At this point, Sui Feng thought it better to do her best to ignore her Zanpakuto.

Another hour passed before they ended their match, Ichigo only managed to land three more tags on Sui Feng while her number of tags remained the same as last time. Ichigo laid flat on the ground catching his breath as Sui Feng leaned against a tree and was doing her best to look away from him "…It looks like suppressing your reiatsu didn't do much to hinder your skills, but we have to get you back to where you were before, and then improve your skills from there. Go get something to eat for yourself and relax for the day. We have a lot to cover, and little time to do it in, but that doesn't mean we are going to completely run you into the ground. Training will continue like this from now until you are at least twice as good as when you started." She looked at Ichigo for his response, and because he was still out of breath and sore from the beating he took during their game, he gave a shaky thumbs up before his arm plopped back down to the ground. At this she took her leave and vanished to her quarters.

Despite her best efforts, Sui Feng kept imagining the images that Suzumebachi kept bringing up during the tag match, her face flushed as each image that showed up became more and more intimate. She felt her body become slightly hotter. She tried to shake it off as her body reacting to the decent spar that Ichigo gave her, and decided a shower would help her relax and melt the images away. She grabbed an identical outfit to the one she normally wore, and as she grabbed her undergarments, her mind flashed the image of her in lingerie, and wondered if Ichigo would like it. She immediately shook the image from her mind and frowned with a light blush coloring her cheeks. 'Why do I keep acting like a school girl when I think of him?' Suzumebachi was oddly silent, and Sui Feng wasn't one to let the moment of silence pass.

She stepped into the bathroom of her quarters and as soon as the door was shut, her cloths were discarded one by one, and she allowed herself to relax, the bath was one of the very few places she could allow herself to become unguarded, so she relished moments like this. Sui Feng looked in the full body mirror, she saw that though her skin was gently sun kissed, the difference between her sun exposed skin and the hidden skin was only slight, but still noticeable. Her body was well toned, granted she was slightly on the short side, she knew height had nothing to do with skill. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if her body would prove alluring to Ichigo. Her hands ran from smooth thighs, to her toned butt, knowing Ichigo was ogling it just a few days ago. That thought brought a fresh blush to her face, but this time she didn't shake it off, instead she let the thought linger and her hands gently caressed her butt, and moved from there to her well sculpted stomach, and up to hersize 32 AA breasts. She knew she had small breasts, especially when compared to women like Matsumoto or Yoruichi. But she never felt insecure with her size, she never had a reason to, and she was quite sure that she caught Ichigo looking at Kuchiki Rukia's on more than one occasion, but thought nothing of it at the time. She gently cupped her breasts and ran her hands over them comparing herself to Rukia. Before she could get too far with her musings, she turned away from the mirror and stepped towards the bath. She washed herself of the sweat and grime of the day while she waited for the water to fill the spacious tub. After she was clean to her satisfaction, she stepped into the warm bath and let the events of the day play in her head while she soaked in the bath. While she was in her musings of the day, her hands kept wandering her body, touching the places that Ichigo managed to catch while they were training, her outer thigh, her hip, her biceps, and her shoulder. She knew he could hit hard, but she knew even with the restrictors on himself, he was holding back, not wanting to hurt her. While the thought of him not wanting to hurt her was reassuring, it was also infuriating that he didn't see her as a real opponent, even though she clearly beat him…or was it something else that stopped him from going full force? Sui Feng sighed, knowing that as Ichigo's superior officer, she could not show him any emotions or actions that show even a little love for him, despite her growing feelings. Sui Feng ducked her head under the water for a few moments, letting the water surround her and clear her head, before she resurfaced for air and climbed out of the bath, knowing she still had other paperwork to do.

Months pass; and Ichigos training continued with the morning practice of two hours of kido training, an hour of meditation, two hours of 'tag,' an hour of Zanpakuto sparring, followed finally, by an hour of reading over the rules and regulations that the second squad followed in both normal situations, and when the Onmitsukido was called upon. He learned about the five divisions within it. During this time, Sui Feng is diligent with sending her monthly reports. Both her and Ichigo are nudged and tormented by their inner companions, and while both don't acknowledge their feelings, they both grow more comfortable with one another.


	6. Mission Accepted

This chapter is a little shorter than usual, I kept getting writers block with it and it took me this long to be satisfied with it before it became too forced. Life keeps me busy with other things, but I am still actively writing ideas for the story. we get a glimpse of the main plot in this chapter, so hopefully the rest will be easier to write and publish. As always, review if ya like it or not. Onto the story!

Chapter 6: Mission Accepted

* * *

As far as Sui Feng's monthly reports on Ichigo's progress, she found herself rewriting the reports twice at the very least, and five times at most before being satisfied with her report. One of the successful reports read as such:

_Monthly Progress Report_

_Subject: Kurosaki Ichigo_

_Subject's Current Rank: Fukutaicho of squad two_

_Kurosaki Ichigo's progress in his training is going relatively smoothly, While his stealth capabilities are steadily increasing due both to practice and the limiters that have been placed on his person, his kido training is a different story: He is making progress, however it is at a very slow rate. Otherwise he has shown promise in his studies of the rules of Seretei, my squad and the Onmitsukido. While I was originally against his placement, I see he is a valuable asset to my squad. No negative outbursts have been observed from Ichigo's person, and any negative conjecture against him has been met with via Kurosaki either ignoring them, or having them back their words up in sparring sessions. Needless to say his placement has been reaffirmed each time he has done either of these, as he shows both maturity and the skill required of his station. Any change in this will be reported upon as soon as possible._

_Sui Feng _

The more, unsuccessful attempts at these reports were the result of her becoming distracted by Suzumebachi and her thoughts of the orange haired shinigami. When Sui Feng realized what she was writing, she immediately blushed and tore the paper to shreds, not wanting anyone to ever know what she wrote about.

Over the last few months, she found herself growing increasingly frustrated, due at the fact that her feelings, which were usually kept in check, were growing ever out of control, particularly because of her new Fukutaicho. Not that he did anything wrong of course, quite the opposite. He was doing everything to the best of his ability, and succeeding. This caused the paperwork on her part to become easier to do. Also, seeing as she didn't have to go searching for him, she was left with more free time. While she used most of this time training, she found her thoughts always came back to the cause of the extra time, and the more she thought of him, the more her feelings grew. The only other person she ever thought this much about was her former captain.

Yet she finds herself thinking less often of Yoruichi, and more of Kurosaki Ichigo. Her thoughts often turned to the questions: Why did she even like him? What made her go from thinking of him as a brute who didn't know his head from a hole in the ground, to someone she was growing attached to? Of course she knew the answers, but it didn't help her to understand them. Each time she saw him fight, both from memory and the recordings that Kurostichi had made for research purposes, she saw that Ichigo always put his entire being into the fight. She recalled her thoughts on these fights; she saw someone who fought against the odds with his heart set on his decision and never backing down, not even a little. This is what started her admiration. A young man with unshakeable beliefs in whatever he did, somehow managed to break down walls he was unaware of in Sui Feng's heart. In doing so, her opinion of him changed without her even knowing about it until recent events.

With her current train of thought on Ichigo, her eyes wandered from the last bit of paperwork she had left to do, to the cabinet where she had placed Ichigo's lion. He had yet to come for it, despite the fact that he knew it was there. Sui Feng had multiple opportunities to ask him why he left the item with her, though she never took the chance, thinking that Ichigo had his own reasons for leaving it with her. To this, Suzumebachi added her own thoughts of why he left it there.

"_**I think he leaves it with you 'cause he wants you to have it or maybe he-"**_ she was very quickly cut off by Sui Feng

"If that were the case, he would at least acknowledge he has left it here with me. If you recall, each time he was called here when he looked at the cabinet that it is in, yet he never made any expression about it one way or the other. His eyes don't even betray his thoughts anymore… But until he brings it up, I don't want to speculate what it is." Sui Feng sighed, thinking that the first time it happened Ichigo would have brought it up, and in all honesty each time he didn't talk about it, the more curious Sui Feng got.

_**"Maybe he is waiting for you to bring the subject up instead. Contrary to popular belief, some guys want the girl to make the first move." **_Suzumebachi grinned at her own statement, seeing it as something that could apply to more than one aspect of her owner's life.

As Sui Feng was about to respond, a hell butterfly floated into her office and landed on her finger. Sui Feng put her conversation with Suzumebachi on hold as she listened to the message from the Hell butterfly.

"Sui Feng Taicho, Kurosaki Ichigo and you are to report to Yamamoto Sotaicho as soon as possible for an urgent matter." The butterfly floated away, after the message was delivered. Sui Feng stood from her desk and made sure everything was in place before leaving her office. She did not have to go far to find Ichigo, as he was at his own desk reading over his portion of the paperwork. Ichigo looked up from the paper he was currently reading, to see his Capitan looking at him.

"The paperwork can wait Kurosaki; Yamamoto Sotaicho wants to see us for an urgent matter. Let's not keep him waiting." Not waiting for any sound of acknowledgement from Ichigo, she turned on her heel and walked out of the building complex. No sooner had she started using shunpo, she found that Ichigo was already next to her, easily matching her pace.

"Did he make any mention of what he needs to talk to us about aside from its apparent urgency?" Ichigo kept his line of sight towards their destination.

"No, but I think it may have something to do with the reports we have been getting from Omnitsukido's Recon division." Ichigo knew which reports she meant, and muttered "Even if it is not... This doesn't sit well with me." He focused his attention on their destination and didn't notice Sui Feng's nod of agreement.

The second division started getting these reports about a month ago, and Ichigo, wondering why nothing was being done, took his copy of the report to Sui Feng, who told him that everything was being handled, and they had to wait until they got orders from the first division, who were also looking into the matter at hand. Still, it left an uneasy feeling in his stomach knowing nothing had been done. He hoped that this meeting would put an end to that.

From what Ichigo had read in the reports, there were disappearances all throughout the Rukongai, and the only thing left of the people who were recovered, were dried husks of what was left of their bodies, each in various states, some frozen solid, others burned, some bloated from water, among other states of decay. Death was common in the higher number districts' Ichigo knew this from the lessons he was getting from Sui Feng and information he had gained from his nights of conversing and light drinking with the other captains and lieutenants who knew him. But these deaths were far from the ordinary, and they were occurring in all of the districts, and thus, Ichigo felt, demanded their immediate attention. Unfortunately, as Sui Feng told him, he was forced to wait to do anything. This didn't mean he didn't seek answers and information from others, but they were just as clueless as he was, with little information to offer aside from the varied states of death that the citizens were found in.

As soon as the duo landed, they were ushered into the council room; Ichigo took note that it was the same one that he was in when he was voted into Seretei. However there was no one in the large room this time except for Yamamoto Sotaicho, Sui Feng and himself. He raised his eyebrow a little but didn't say anything, silently wondering what the old captain-commander was up to. He and Sui Feng bowed lightly, while Yamamoto nodded slightly towards them and began their meeting.

"I felt it appropriate to bring a certain matter into light and take action." He motions to Chōjirō Sasakibe, to hand him the compiled reports and discussed action. "I understand, young Kurosaki; that you have been trying to gather information about the untimely deaths of the denizens of the Rukongai. Trust me when I say you are not the only one concerned about these unfortunate circumstances, and all information on this case shall be handled only by those investigating it. I know how upset you are that a decision has not been made sooner, and I am glad you did not act on your own. You realize now that Central 46 needs to review all angles and options before allowing us to make any movement." Yamamoto opens his eyes slightly and sees the determination set in Ichigos face and stance, and also notices the slight movement of Sui Feng's eyes from Kurosaki to himself, and assumes she is making sure that Kurosaki stays in line while in the meeting.

"Speaking of those involved, I have selected you, Sui Feng, and Kurosaki Ichigo, to be the individuals to investigate these deaths. You will be starting from the innermost districts and working your way out, seeking any and all sources of information that have any credibility. While you two will be the only shinigami in the field, you will have backup from several others who will only assist you if the situation becomes dire. I also suggest you make yourselves as inconspicuous as possible; we don't need any more unrest in the Rukongai than there already is. Find the source of these deaths and neutralize any threat immediately."

"We won't fail you Yamamoto Sotaicho." A unified response from Ichigo and Sui Feng, both of them determined to see this mission to completion.

"I expect that you won't. However, I must remind you both to keep low profiles while in the Rukongai. We don't need any more chaos than there already is, that and we cannot afford to give our position away before we even find the source of these atrocities. Sui Feng, I expect you to show young Kurosaki how to properly blend in with his surroundings."

"It will be done" Sui Feng bowed, and an affirmative grunt was heard from Ichigo.

"Then I release you both to do your duty. You may go." Yamamoto began walking away, muttering something along the lines of enjoying a cup of tea in the gardens.

* * *

The smell of burning flesh and hair filled the air of the small grassy meadow, with a hint of the smell of sex. Several corpses still alight littered the field, while there were a few others who looked as if they had been frozen, their skin blackened and brittle from frostbite.

"Must you be so brazen and play with your prey before killing them Tirfni? The smell alone is enough to gag me…" A young man in his early twenties with an athletic body build and short curly black hair waved his hand in front of his face, in attempt to remove the foul odor from his senses as he sat upon one of the frozen corpses He was dressed in a light blue loose shirt and equally light blue pants that were tucked inside black boots. His lavender eyes opened, and were looking at his partner in crime with distaste.

Said partner scoffed and tossed aside the body that was in her hand. "Like I care what you think Avish. You know as well as I that we were told to kill them and leave a trail to be followed. Nothing was said about having a bit of fun before that. Our prey deserves a bit of pleasure before we kill them." She was a stunningly beautiful woman, her hair went down to the small of her back, and was the color of flames, mostly red with bits of blonde mixed in. Her body had curves that could easily rival those of Rangiku Matsumoto, her voice was like velvet on scarlet colored lips. Her clothing left little to the imagination too, as she wore clothing resembling those of an Arabian princess, where her red pants dipped well below her navel which was pierced and had a small fire shaped pendant hanging from it. Her considerable bust was hidden only by an almost too tight tube top, also red in color, with straps that drooped slightly on her arms. Her skin was slightly tanned, and her emerald eyes showed that she enjoyed all parts of what she did.

Avish sighed and ran a hand through his hair "While killing them is fun, can't we go after some bigger prey? I want a proper challenge." He stood from the body he sat on and kicked it away, watching it crumble to pieces as it hit a tree.

Tirfni looked at Avish and shook her head. "Not until we are told otherwise. We don't need that kind of attention yet. We are lucky we weren't set upon by the Shinigami already. As much as I want to stay and have some more fun, we need to get going, before the trail gets too hot for us and we are caught." With that Avish sighed again and nodded his head, after which both of them disappeared from sight and the area in search of more prey, as well as to keep on the move.

* * *

Ichigo frowned as he packed some plain robes into a satchel as Sui Feng watched him, her pack already prepared. "So let me get this straight…we can't wear our Shinigami uniforms while in the Rukongai, and for the sake of making it more believable to the people there, have to act like a traveling couple?" He tied the satchel rope around its opening and slung it over his shoulder.

At the mention of being a couple, both Ichigo and Sui Feng blushed lightly at the idea. "You heard what the Captain- Commander said. We need to be inconspicuous, so the best thing to do is blend in. this assists with your stealth training, to see how well you do at hiding from the enemy. Same thing goes for the couple bit." Her voice hardens at her next statement "Do you find it that distasteful to act that way with me for the sake of a mission?" Her eyes were hardened, but underneath her heart felt a small tug, hoping that he wouldn't say yes.

Ichigo shook his head "NO, that's not it at all…It's just that I didn't expect that to be the method we would be using." Ichigo looked away from her at that moment, so he didn't see her blush increase.

Sui Feng forced her blush down, and kept her voice cold, despite the relief that she felt upon hearing his words. "And what were you expecting Kurosaki?"

"I dunno, I just wasn't expecting that." He scratched the back of his head. He really wasn't expecting much of anything when it came to how they would execute the mission, but to pose as a couple was something unexpected for him. "I'm not sure I can pull it off to tell the truth."

Sui Feng looked at him incredulously. "You will have to. It is so we can successfully do our duty and bring whatever is harming the people to justice, by force if necessary."

"I understand that much…but from what I remember, the further out we go, the more uncivilized and unruly it gets. How will we explain ourselves to someone who asks?" Ichigo looked to Sui Feng expecting an answer.

"We don't have to answer to anyone. Our business is our own. That's all they need to hear." Sui Feng didn't expect him to question her this much, and felt that her reasoning should be enough.

"That defeats the purpose of hiding who we are then!"

"Then what do you suggest if you feel so confident about that failing?"

"Something better than that poor excuse!"

"Then spit it out!"

At this point Sui Feng and Ichigo were forehead to forehead glaring at each other. At Sui Feng's last statement, Ichigo takes a step back and sighs, "The best thing I can come up with is this; you had a child in the previous life. You want to look for them and only know they are somewhere in the Rukongai. You and I met during your searches and we eventually…became a couple… and have been on the search for your child ever since." He looked down as he finished his explanation, hoping that he didn't just embarrass himself.

Suzumebachi took this opportunity to speak her mind to Sui Feng "_**Ooh, he is using his head! I like his idea. Especially the part of you two becoming a couple."**_ She giggled as Sui Feng mentally sighed.

"Then we will use that as our excuse if we need to. And to not draw any other suspicions towards us, we should decide on a name at least for the child. As well as remember to be as social as possible without giving any information about who we really are." Sui Feng slung her pack over her shoulder and looked to Ichigo, "We may as well just walk to the districts, and we can discuss the names along the way."

Ichigo nodded and walked next to her, both of them heading towards the nearest exit from Seretei to the Rukongai.. "Do you have any ideas for a name?"

She let out a rare smirk "I thought I would let you have the first shot at it, seeing as it is _your_ idea."

Ichigo frowned a little as he went into thought. "First I assume we need to figure out a gender…but to decide on a name for each gender would be best I think…"

"Or we could keep it unisex and avoid the problem all together." Sui Feng thought out loud, trying to keep things as minimalist as possible before they had to start acting as a couple.

"Nah, then they would ask what the gender is to help us look for the child. It would be useless to have as little information as possible…"

"Fair enough. How about Sora for a boy, and Yoruichi for a girl?" Sui Feng enjoyed the idea of giving a child, even a fake one at that, her mentor's name.

"Sora is fine for a boy, but no to the girls' name." Ichigo scoffed/shuddered at the thought of a mini Yoruichi running around with the fully grown one.

Sui Feng glared at Ichigo "What's wrong with it?! Yoruichi is a perfectly good name!" She felt appalled that Ichigo wouldn't even consider using such a great name for a little girl.

"I never said it was a bad name!"

"You implied it!"

"I meant that it wouldn't work!"

"How would you know?"

"Oh come on! Who in their right mind would believe that load? That somehow your daughter from the living world mysteriously has the same name as the Goddess of Shunpo? It's got to be a different name!"

Sui Feng furrowed her brow and pouted a little and looked to the side, knowing Ichigo was right. Ichigo took notice of this and couldn't help from thinking how cute she looked when she pouted.

"…do you suggest then?"

"Huh?" Ichigo shook his head from his thoughts and looked at Sui Feng.

"I said, what name do you suggest then?" Sui Feng lost her pout but couldn't hide the disappointment in her eyes.

Ichigo sighed and looked at the well-worn path ahead of them. "I think we could use my mom's name….Masaki. No one here knows her, so that would make it the best name I could think of."

"Your mother…why would we use her name, isn't she still alive?" Sui Feng took notice to Ichigo's immediate reaction to the question.

Ichigo smiled sadly and shook his head, a faraway look took over his eyes as he recalled days gone by with his mother. "No…she died, a long time ago. A hollow by the name of Grand Fisher killed her when she saved me from it…"

Sui Feng nodded and swallowed the sudden lump in her throat that formed during Ichigo's statement. "I...see. Sorry to bring up a painful memory."

Ichigo's expression didn't change, but his voice did, it held a calmer tone than it did when he first answered. "It's okay, no one here except for Rukia knew about it before you asked."

Sui Feng nodded, and made an attempt to change the subject; despite feeling a twinge of jealousy flow through her at the mentioning of Rukia. "If it makes you feel any better. We can use her name. I think that helped me decide on the gender, now we just have to decide her looks. You can decide on her eyes."

"Thanks" Ichigo nodded as he answered, and the two continued their discussion as they walked to the Rukongai to begin their investigations.

Before they entered the Rukongai, the two Shinigami prepared their story for each other, as well as got their proper clothing on. Ichigo wore an outfit similar to his normal Shinigami outfit, except that it was a little smaller and instead of black, it was dark brown in color, and his obi was blue instead of white. Sui Feng wore a red yukata with a yellow obi sash and had her hair done in a bun held by two chop sticks. Her traditional white wraps were around her arms hidden under the yukata. Ichigo, upon first seeing Sui Feng in a simple outfit couldn't help but think about how beautiful she looked. Zangetsu and Suzumebachi were hidden in one separate satchel each, which held a pocket dimension developed by Kurostichi. This helped them to stay armed while keeping themselves from looking out of place. Ichigo held Zangetsu's satchel inside the inner flap of his shirt, while Sui Feng kept Suzumebachi around her wrist, making it look like a small purse, even going so far as to draw a cat on it.

They had also decided on code names to use while undercover, Ichigo took the name Kira, while Sui Feng took the name Li. They would be looking for Sui Feng's daughter Masaki, a little girl who had most of her mother's looks except for her eyes, which were hazel. Their story was that they had met a year ago and Ichigo helped her when she was being attacked, and he joined as a guard for her, but they both developed feelings for one another, and became lovers while on their journey to complete their little family.

Sui Feng secured the strap for Suzumebachi on her wrist and looked to Ichigo. "Are you ready for this, Kira?" they decided to use the code names as soon as possible, so they could get used to them sooner.

He nodded, "As ready as I can be Li." They stood next to each other, closer than they usually do. Ichigo flushed a little, and after struggling with his own thoughts and his hollow's snide remarks, he reached out and took hold of Sui Feng's hand, which made them both blush a little. "Lets get going." He nervously smiled and they both stepped out of the Seretei and into the Rukongai first district.


End file.
